While Vuthe and Scarlet spoke, Corellanium continued his planning for the future. Technically that wasn’t his job as the battle strategist, but he’s long incorporated that into his calculations, simply because he liked to stay on top of things. Usually, he kept out of politics, but at the same time, he couldn’t entirely avoid it.
He had spent the morning going over all and every piece of knowledge they had about the current situation, which sounded like a lot, but in truth, they knew very little. The number of unknown factors were honestly kind of daunting. Sure, they had an inkling about the local political situation, as well as some basic idea about their military might, but nothing even remotely concrete enough to work out reliable plans.
Pretty much the only lead they had was the Council, yet they hadn’t seen hide nor hair from them after Vuthe’s first talk with the bartender. That was another thing he was stressing out about, since without any help from them, talking with the government could be very problematic. He just hoped that they would get into contact soon.
The geopolitical situation was an even bigger question mark, with only some secondhand knowledge here and there, not even remotely enough to even be called intel. Most of what they had was rumors.
With that in mind he went to fetch Calagrophy to have a little talk about their situation. As the second in command she was the person he went to if Vuthe was indisposed for the moment. Calagrophy arrived not long after his message reached her, wearing a beautiful, yet practical, combat dress. It wasn’t her full general’s attire, but more than enough to deal with whatever trouble might arise in the meantime.
On her hip she wore her rapier, the default off-battlefield weapon she liked to use. And one of the few cases in which she was better at a weapon than Vuthe was, which was a huge achievement, even within the Council.
„You called, Coral?“, Calagrophy asked as she arrived in his tent. They had spent a few nights together but compared to the very physical relationships between the other four reincarnators, Corellanium was more a platonic friend. They trusted him just as much as any of the others in their group, but it was still something he was a little conscious about.
Not that he minded it much, but from time to time it made him feel a little out of the loop. Nothing he could do about it, however, he just didn’t feel that strongly in that regard.
„Hey there, Cal. Yeah. I’ve been thinking, with all the things going on, and our lack of knowledge, and needed someone to bounce some ideas. Especially since Vuth is currently with her sister, and the army is in town, y’know, the usual“, he gave her a slight smile.
Corellanium wasn’t very expressive, mostly because he tended to be rather anti-social, so the wry smile on his face quickly garnered one in return from Calagrophy. It wasn’t often that he smiled, and even less often that he resorted to sarcasm.
„I agree. Lots going on with nothing we know. I do think that Vuth’s sister being here will be help. Especially for her. I hope at least, you never know“, she said, shrugging slightly. It was an open secret in their little group that Vuthe was by far the most stressed out of all of them. It was really a given, considering what she had gone through compared to the rest of them.
„Yeah… I do really hope that. She deserves some rest. Not saying we don’t do our work, but she really went all out for all of us and more. I know she’s driven, but even then, she’s been pushing herself far over her breaking point. I’m just amazed she held it together so long“, Corellanium agreed, with a slight frown.
„I agree. So, let’s hope this will work. Now, what exactly did you want to talk about?“, Calagrophy asked, sitting down on the opposite of his table. His tent was just as big as the rest of the tents, with only a field bed, a nightstand, a table, and four chairs present. Most of them kept their possessions in their respective form of storage, which for Corellanium was a form of acid pool.
„Ah, yeah. Sorry, been getting distracted again. So, you remember how Vuthe had that talk with that Erelith woman? I was thinking on doing some discreet inquiries about some things. On one hand to get some information, but on the other to show we are open for cooperation. I know I don’t understand politics well, which is why I wanted to run those by you, since you have a way better grasp on those things. Especially since this Council that Vuthe talked about still hasn’t said anything yet. Honestly, that’s another thing that’s keeping me up at night.“
Calagrophy chuckled. Of course, everyone in the Council had their respective strength, but even then Corellanium’s lack of knowledge in the political theatre was sometimes amusing. „Yeah, I agree we need to show them some carrot. We can give plenty of stick, but if we want this to go nicely, we need to be more open. I take it you have some concrete ideas?“
Corellanium nodded, consulting his notes for a moment, „Indeed I have. First, and in my opinion the most important, is the question of how we are going to hide ourselves. I don’t understand the exact reason of keeping magic quiet, but if it’s as important to them as I think it is, it would do well for us to recognize it. Not that I think it would be a good idea to be the group to break the news, that can quickly end with us on the wrong side of history, and I for one don’t intend to start another world war. Once was enough, thank you.“
Calagrophy nodded slowly as he explained, a thoughtful expression on her serene face. „Yes, that is definitely an important one. I wouldn’t say the most important one, but definitely an important one. And it can also work as leverage. Let them know we are willing to play their game as long as they don’t overstep their bounds, but if they do, we just reveal to the world what’s really going on to help keep them in line. And I doubt they can do much about us when we just reveal ourselves in public and a huge dragon panic is going around. They’ll have bigger fish to fry at that point.“
Corellanium nodded, leaning back in the uncomfortable chair. Not that he cared much for furniture, but these chairs were truly a pain in the arse. „I haven’t thought of that. Tactically it would make sense to have a nuke button, just in case, but I’d be loathed to press it. You need to keep in mind we also have the Council to worry about. From what I understand they are the ones in charge of that, so we might actually have more problems than you realize. And even if, we also have to take care of the masses. And I’m really not comfortable with starting to slaughter the innocents to keep them at bay. Like I said, I’d rather not start another world war.“
„I hear you. This is more of a worst case scenario if the council doesn’t want to help us. We’re the newcomers here, with no political backing nor a good understanding of what’s going on. If the Council cuts us out and throws us to the fishes we need something they take seriously. And while the fact that we’re dragons alone gives us some credence, if only for their wish not to fight us directly, we need something more concrete. We can’t work under the assumption they won’t be stupid enough to attack us“, Calagrophy shrugged, leaning onto the table, resting her chin on one hand, „Don’t understand me wrong, I’m not happy about the need for that nuke button as you called it, but it is a form of leverage we can use. And maybe Vuth can talk to her sister about some support, if their meeting is going well.“
„There is also the issue with what to do if we can’t hide ourselves from the general public. I mean most of us dragons can shift to look human, but we still have some distinct feature. And do you really think Tizanta will stay undercover if that happens? Or her daughter for that matter?“
„Well…“, Calagrophy started, unsure, „I mean we could all just stay here. And I’m sure Tiz can swing some illusions for those that need to interact with humans. But I agree with you. Hell, leaving looks aside, there will be a massive culture shock. Just imagine the Beastkin trying to integrate with society. They have a pretty barbaric upbringing, that will lead to more than just a few fights with humans. Especially considering that some things hold entirely different meaning to them than it does to humans. Remember the first time we met the Duralt?“
„That is another point I wanted to raise. Even if they can help us hide our appearance, what should we do about that? We have five thousand people here who have never been near modern society. There is bound to be some issue or another“, Corellanium said, then scratched his chin, „And I don’t see us doing some kind of modern-society-one-o-one crash course or something. First, most won’t learn much, or outright ignore it if they dislike certain customs, secondly our troops are just too on edge still. Yes, we had a couple of weeks of relaxing, but with the infiltrators, the new surroundings, the visible tension on Vuthe… I don’t think the troops are as clueless about her as we hoped. I’ve noticed some who seemed to have figured something out. They are trying to be mindful, sure, but it might have a bad impact on morale.“
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„Let’s just hope that changes“, Calagrophy shrugged, leaning back and sighing, „Otherwise we will have issues soon anyways. But maybe we shouldn’t think too much about that problem. I’m sure culture shock problems are prevalent enough in magic society, and if the Council is at least half as good as I think it is, they should have prepared something. We just need to hope we can get there before everyone goes mad.“
For a moment there was thoughtful silence, then Corellanium raised an eyebrow, „What about your family? Cast and I met our brother and our parents, Vuthe has her sister here, but what about you? I know Tiz had pretty much disconnected herself from her family from the get go. But you never said anything of the sort.“
Calagrophy looked away from him, a slight unhappiness showing on her face, which in Corellanium’s opinion didn’t fit her in the least. „It‘s… It‘s complicated. I’ve had some troubles with my brother, and my sister is… Shes a special needs kid. I don’t think she’d take any of this very well. She’s emotionally completely detached. Between that, and I never really gotten along much with my biological parents…“, she trailed off, and Corellanium noticed that her eyes were brimming with tears, „And… Well, I did some research… My foster parents died some years back, so I don’t really have anyone to go back to… Not that they would have accepted my own kid. Has Cast brought that up with your family yet?“
Corellanium smiled a little at that, „Well… The topic did came up. They were… shocked to say the least. Having a grandkid five times as old as you is… a unique experience I suppose“, he said wryly.
Calagrophy laughed, „Yeah. That’s true.“
„So you don’t have anyone here? Not even friends?“, he asked her after another moment of silence. It was a weird thought, but not one that is too surprising. They all had pretty much accepted that they would never see friends and family again, but with how things went, it brought a whole new spin on the topic.
The Light Dragon shrugged, „Well… I did have a boyfriend back then. Not sure he would even still recognize me though, and I’m not so delusional to think that he is still interested in me that way, hell, I would bet half my treasury that he has long since found someone else. And even if all that wasn’t true, and he would still be heads over heels for me, I got you guys now. I have no intention on breaking that up. Never. Outside that, I doubt that my other friends would recognize me. My best friend, maybe, but I’m not even sure where she ended up. Would need to visit home for that, and I doubt they just let us travel halfway over the world, if only for fear of us stirring something up. Wouldn’t be surprised, thanks to that fucktard of a noble.“
Corellanium nodded thoughtfully, „I suppose that makes sense. And even if you found her, the question is if you would even be able to talk to her. Given the fact that we are now officially part of a hidden society, it would maybe be a bad idea to induct people like that, until we had some more detailed talks with the government or the Council, depending on who it is that decides these things.“
„Yes“, Calagrophy agreed with an unhappy frown, „Well. What other things did you want to do in that regard?“. She didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she yearned to have some people to go back to. Tizanta chose not to go back, but she truly didn’t have anyone she could go back to, given her past.
The older dragon cleared his throat, accepting Calagrophy’s attempt to switch topics, „I was tempted to offer some basic knowledge on magic. It appears to be working a little different here, which doesn’t surprise me at all considering the difference in society, and the lack of technology on the other world. Maybe we can offer an exchange of information on magic. And we could also offer a select few magical items for them to study, in turn for some overtures on their part. The details of course would need to be talked about with our Council first, before I do anything like that, but I do think it would be wise for us to offer trade of some kind or another, if they are agreeable to that.“
She shrugged, „I don’t see why not. Yeah, we really need to go over the items with a fine scope to make sure we don’t accidentally give them something to blow more shit up with, but I was honestly already expecting for that to be a given. We need resources, so we need to trade. And what would be more logical than magical resources and knowledge to give in turn? We literally have millennia on them in that regard.“
„That might also be cause for that to remain more secret then. We could theoretically charge them whatever we want for it“, he chuckled, suddenly imagining them as the overlords. None of their Council would stand for it, of course. But it was a funny thing to imagine.
„And I also think we should trade for some place to let our people stay”, Calagrophy said with a sigh, leaning back as well and looking towards the ceiling, „We need to ease them into modern society one way or another, there simply isn’t another way. But we need to do that very slowly and controlled. Maybe they have some secret magic society apartment complex, or something similar somewhere? Somewhere to put our people to help them ease into it, without running the chance of them suddenly exposing magic to the world. I know they aren’t stupid, but some are careless. It just takes one spell in the open for shit to go really sideways. Sure they have that fancy overwatch institution, but that won’t be able to hide a fully shifted dragon, at least for long“, she sighed, „The problem is really how to go about that. Maybe just ask them how they would handle that, but with the understanding that we will be running close oversight. If I even hear of any of our people being mistreated I’m blowing up their goddamn capitol.“
He couldn’t argue. All of the reincarnators have long since felt more at home in Satien than they ever did here, despite the utter shitshow that world was. He was not about to be lenient either, if they decided to fuck with them, he would repay that insult with interest and then some. It was a fine line they walked, between cooperation and all out combat. None of them wanted to fight, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t if they had to. He sighed.
„Let’s not count our drakes just yet. We need to talk to them first. I just hope that with Vuth’s sister as our liaison that won’t be too much of an issue“, he said.
At that moment Tizanta walked in, „Well, hello there loves. Whatcha doing?“, she asked with a wide smile, before promptly falling into the seat next to Calagrophy and giving her a kiss on the cheek.
„Talking politics, what else do you think?“, the light dragon answered, before sticking out her tongue for a moment, „How is Vuth doing?“
Tizanta chuckled, „Politics. The never ending bane of everyone, mortals and immortals alike“, she shrugged, „So far pretty good. She’s opened up to Scarlet, currently telling her everything. While it’s pretty painful for her to talk about it, it’s good that she does. I feel like it will be very good for her. Still hoping for that trauma expert I asked about though.“
Corellanium raised an eyebrow, „Trauma expert? I mean, I get why you would look for one, but I didn’t know you already had. When did that happen?“, he asked her, honestly quite surprised. He had talked with his brother about looking for one for Vuthe, but since they didn’t know anyone trustworthy, they never really thought too much about.
Tizanta nodded, „Yeah, I did, just yesterday. Also send a message to Scarlet, which is why she is here I think. True, family and all, but I don’t think she would be here already if I didn’t send her a message. Or maybe she would have, who knows.“
Calagrophy shrugged, „Doesn’t matter. It’s good that she’s here, but I doubt that will be all Vuthe needs. She’s seriously fucked up mentally, the level of stress she is under is, frankly speaking, utterly insane. I just wish there would be more we could do for her.“
There was a moment of silence in the room, before Tizanta smiled sadly, „I mean I could always run an illusion to do her job for her. But I don’t think we can get her to leave her duty alone for more than half a day. She is way too driven for that, even if she understands that she’d need a moment of pause.“
Of course, their council had mentioned that idea before. They all wanted Vuthe to take a break, but she would never allow that. In her mind Vuthe was responsible for everyone in her camp, from her friends to even the last of her soldiers. Especially given all the things they had all gone through.
Calagrophy had known her briefly before they ended up in the other world, and her analysis of Rin Savart was that she was a driven young girl. That had only multiplied since they were brought to Satien, almost as if that was the only thing keeping her sane. No matter what they encountered Vuthe de Thal had led them through even the thickest of thicks, and the thinnest of thins. No matter what they had to deal with Vuthe had been there.
Everyone, including the council members were glad for it, even if nobody would openly admit it, but by now this drive of hers, this undefeated determination to see things through had grown to be more of a crux than a help. Everyone in her army knew she would run herself ragged if this continues, but nobody had the heart to tell her to take a step back, and those that did knew that she would oppose that idea.
Vuthe had this aura about her, this feel of certainty that no matter what they tackled she would be able to see them through. It defied the rational, indeed it even defied the magical. Auras were a fickle thing, something so deeply rooted into the personality of a person that faking an aura was nearly impossible. Yet here was Vuthe, with an aura so full of determination that it defied the odds.
Everyone capable of feeling auras knew that she not only spoke of what she wanted to achieve. No, they knew she would be able to achieve it, no matter the costs. And there lie the problem.
Calagrophy looked around the group, „Anyone has an idea to give her a moment of pause, without shackling her in a jail for the next decade or so?“
Corellanium sighed, „Honestly, we won’t be able to get her to take a break without seriously pissing her off. I wish I could give her a few years off, maybe even a few decades“, he said, then sighed again, „Anyways. I’ll go and get those inquiries done. And maybe that will take off the pressure a little.“
The two women smiled tiredly at him, and he saw that they shared his utter lack of faith for that statement to be true.